Joris van de Moortel is a Belgian artist who lives and works in Antwerp. His research explores the relationships between art, nature, and society, giving life to a layered visual language that intertwines past, present, and future. His works emerge from a multidisciplinary approach that combines installation, sculpture, performance, and music, creating environmental installations that challenge the traditional structures and boundaries of contemporary art.
In A Thin Blue Line, neon light takes center stage, becoming a narrative element:
a line of blue neon light cuts across the façade of a building, as if the artist had captured the precise instant a lightning bolt strikes the house. The image suspends time, crystallizing a moment of pure energy. This irregular, organic blue line is more than a formal element; it becomes the interpretive key to the entire project—a guiding thread that links the various works in the series, traversing buildings, rooms, and spaces, literally illuminating them with light and meaning.
The project originated between 2011 and 2014, a period during which Van de Moortel created a series of site-specific installations in various European museums and art centers. The first pivotal step took place at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, Netherlands, where the artist presented a scale model in which the neon line took shape as an organic trace—almost like a living organism moving freely through the exhibition space. Over time, this line became a distinctive signature of his artistic practice, a symbol of connection between places and the memories they hold.
As the project evolved, it continued to grow and transform, taking on new forms and meanings through installations at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, Transpalette in Bourges, France, and finally at the prestigious Palais de Tokyo in Paris. In each venue, the blue line adapted to the architectural space and its history, becoming a living, ever-changing element capable of engaging in dialogue with its surroundings and evoking the latent energy of each location.
Van de Moortel’s fascination with neon light has its roots in his personal history: he grew up near the workshop of a craftsman who specialized in working with neon. This early memory had a decisive impact on his practice, inspiring him to transform a simple commercial material into a powerful expressive and symbolic medium.
Over time, A Thin Blue Line has transcended the boundaries of installation to become an intimate, permanent gesture. Van de Moortel decided to have the line tattooed on his arm—a spontaneous, organic shape, now etched forever into his skin—giving rise to Permanent Marker. This act transforms the line into a personal signature, binding the artist inseparably to his work and his research, and emphasizing how art can merge with life to the point of becoming an integral part of it.

© Joris Van de Moortel, A Thin Blue Line, Neon tube, variable size, 2011-2014.
photo by: Joris Van de Moortel

20/09/25